D&D 5E Bedridden musing: removing Proficiency Bonus

[Tales and Chronicles]

As some can see, I've a lot of free time to spare today. My whole family is Covid-positive, so no kindergarten for my son, no job for my GF and I. Yeah!

Another hot take with deep implication (nha really, just for funs) : what if I removed Proficiency bonus from my games?

Let say my players are dumber than rocks and forget to add their PB to 90% of the stuff they should (yes, even if it is already calculated/written on their sheet). I want to go easy on them and make those big bad maths easier for them, and I remove PB for both players and creatures. Or say I want to make ability mods more important than the rest.

What happens if:

• I give a flat bonus to trained skills. +5 ala 4e? Only +2? Make it roll under where a trained skill add +2 to the relevant stat?
• Weapon and spell attack rolls are made with only 1d20+mod
• Saves are made also with 1d20+mod against a DC of 8+mod
• I Reduce monsters HP by a lot (say half).
• I get real generous with magic/masterwork weapons and tools
• I say that features usable PB/rest are now once per 4 character levels.

Again, how does it look? Entertain me, Enworld! I'm really bored.

 

[jmartkdr2]

As some can see, I've a lot of free time to spare today. My whole family is Covid-positive, so no kindergarten for my son, no job for my GF and I. Yeah!

Another hot take with deep implication (nha really, just for funs) : what if I removed Proficiency bonus from my games?

Let say my players are dumber than rocks and forget to add their PB to 90% of the stuff they should (yes, even if it is already calculated/written on their sheet). I want to go easy on them and make those big bad maths easier for them, and I remove PB for both players and creatures. Or say I want to make ability mods more important than the rest.

Just reduce ACs and DCs by 3. Training becomes much less important, everyone's an adventurer, and the math is technically easier since there's only one mod to remember.

(although I suspect players will start forgetting to add that too...)

What happens if:

• I give a flat bonus to trained skills. +5 ala 4e? Only +2? Make it roll under where a trained skill add +2 to the relevant stat?

Screw it; expertise is +5, the rest of you get nothing.

• Weapon and spell attack rolls are made with only 1d20+mod
  • Saves are made also with 1d20+mod against a DC of 8+mod
  • I Reduce monsters HP by a lot (say half).

Not sure this is needed, since proficiency doesn't apply to damage outside certain specific cases.

• • I get real generous with magic/masterwork weapons and tools
  • I say that features usable PB/rest are now once per 4 character levels.

Or one per short rest if you allow short rests after every couple fights at most.

• • 
    
  Again, how does it look? Entertain me, Enworld! I'm really bored.

Here's the thing: even though the math is overall pretty close, it'll feel a lot more random, just because the number on the die is a bigger portion of the final result. It's a weird thing but it's there. Luck will seem much more important, which will make pc's feel less awesome overall, despite having pretty much the same chances.

On the other hand, saves won't have annoying scaling where you get progressively worse (relatively) at your nonproficient saves, so if people can get over the apparent swinginess it might actually play out better.

 

[Charlaquin]

As some can see, I've a lot of free time to spare today. My whole family is Covid-positive, so no kindergarten for my son, no job for my GF and I. Yeah!

Another hot take with deep implication (nha really, just for funs) : what if I removed Proficiency bonus from my games?

Let say my players are dumber than rocks and forget to add their PB to 90% of the stuff they should (yes, even if it is already calculated/written on their sheet). I want to go easy on them and make those big bad maths easier for them, and I remove PB for both players and creatures. Or say I want to make ability mods more important than the rest.

What happens if:

• I give a flat bonus to trained skills. +5 ala 4e? Only +2? Make it roll under where a trained skill add +2 to the relevant stat?
• Weapon and spell attack rolls are made with only 1d20+mod
• Saves are made also with 1d20+mod against a DC of 8+mod
• I Reduce monsters HP by a lot (say half).
• I get real generous with magic/masterwork weapons and tools
• I say that features usable PB/rest are now once per 4 character levels.

Again, how does it look? Entertain me, Enworld! I'm really bored.

You could just shift the math over to your end. If a character has proficiency on a check, lower the DC by the amount they would normally get as their proficiency bonus.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

(although I suspect players will start forgetting to add that too...)

You joke, but....

 

[jmartkdr2]

You joke, but....

Minimum maths version: if the outcome is in doubt, roll a d20. If you roll an 8 or better, you succeed. (this preserves the basic ratios the full rules create.)

Then just take race/background/class into account when deciding what to roll for. Maybe do something with damage for weapons. Or maybe they just need to be hit X times depending on narrative importance.

But I digress.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Not sure this is needed, since proficiency doesn't apply to damage outside certain specific cases.

My idea was that since attack rolls would be lower, there would be more misses, and I dont want combat to last 2 hours.

Or one per short rest if you allow short rests after every couple fights at most.

Good idea, I already go with 10-minutes short rest, max 2 per day.

Here's the thing: even though the math is overall pretty close, it'll feel a lot more random, just because the number on the die is a bigger portion of the final result. It's a weird thing but it's there. Luck will seem much more important, which will make pc's feel less awesome overall, despite having pretty much the same chances.

On the other hand, saves won't have annoying scaling where you get progressively worse (relatively) at your nonproficient saves, so if people can get over the apparent swinginess it might actually play out better.

Thanks. That's a good thing to consider. My players really lean into D&D as a board game, so rolling die and see what happens should not bother them too much, I think.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

You could just shift the math over to your end. If a character has proficiency on a check, lower the DC by the amount they would normally get as their proficiency bonus.

Hey, I never said I'm that much more brilliant than them! I'm probably as bad with math than them, but at least I dont forget 90% on my character sheet!

Given, I'm the DM, so I only have to deal with a few statblocks!

 

[DND_Reborn]

LOL ah, poor @vincegetorix everyone under quarantine!

Why stop at INT and proficiency bonus? Next get rid of class, race, and the PC! Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of...

KICK, KILL, & STEAL!

An exciting new RPG experience! KK&S is a dungeon-crawl style RPG where your character wanders through searching for monsters to kill and treasure to steal! A door stuck stopping you? No problem, that is where your Kick ability comes in! Then you kill the monster and/or steal the treasure. With every encounter your character gains a level! Not that it means anything, because you have no ability scores, no class, no hit points, or anything at all! Every room in the dungeon always has another door and another room to explore.

If you're ready to play, just grab a coin, or any die, and brace yourself for adventure like nothing you've faced before! Each successful flip or roll gets you one step closer to the treasures of the dungeons.

It's fun for the whole family!

Wait! There's MORE! If you love KK&S, you'll really enjoy Advanced KK&S, where you actually get to pick something your character is great at: kicking, killing, or stealing! Now, when your focus requires a flip or roll--don't bother!--you succeed automatically!

Available at DMGuid and DriveThruRPG soon!

 

[jmartkdr2]

LOL ah, poor @vincegetorix everyone under quarantine!

Why stop at INT and proficiency bonus? Next get rid of class, race, and the PC! Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of...

KICK, KILL, & STEAL!

An exciting new RPG experience! KK&S is a dungeon-crawl style RPG where your character wanders through searching for monsters to kill and treasure to steal! A door stuck stopping you? No problem, that is where your Kick ability comes in! Then you kill the monster and/or steal the treasure. With every encounter your character gains a level! Not that it means anything, because you have no ability scores, no class, no hit points, or anything at all! Every room in the dungeon always has another door and another room to explore.

If you're ready to play, just grab a coin, or any die, and brace yourself for adventure like nothing you've faced before! Each successful flip or roll gets you one step closer to the treasures of the dungeons.

It's fun for the whole family!

Wait! There's MORE! If you love KK&S, you'll really enjoy Advanced KK&S, where you actually get to pick something your character is great at: kicking, killing, or stealing! Now, when your focus requires a flip or roll--don't bother!--you succeed automatically!

Available at DMGuid and DriveThruRPG soon!

The only way to improve this is to somehow make the acronym KS&S (Keep it Simple and Stupid)

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

The only way to improve this is to somehow make the acronym KS&S (Keep it Simple and Stupid)

Kick, Smash & Steal!

An obstacle? Kick it!
Enemies? Smash'em!
Stuff not bolted to the floor? Steal it!

Last night I had the idea of creating a fantasy heartbreaker called Heart Breaks and Head Bashing
or HB&HB for short.